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need some advice! Mashing?

madchef77

Brewer
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Feb 14, 2012
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new brighton mn
Ok, doing a 5 gallon batch, I have no problems with the wort going through the false bottom when mashing. But when I brew a ten gallon batch it seems to slow down substantially, to the point of coming out a trickle at a time.  Leave it for a long mash period.  So I am asking for advice to fix the flow of my wort coming from the mash tun? thanks for the help.
 
Assuming same MLT, you've doubled the grain in the same vertical column, so weight of the grains/water is increased. 

Do you use a false bottom? 
Maybe consider rice hulls to decrease compaction in grain bed?
How's the crush?  Maybe it's too fine for a larger grain bed, compared to the 5-gallon batch that flows well?
Raise temps with a mash out to increase flow of liquid?
 
Other info that might help with answers to your question are,
Batch Sparge or Fly?
MLT or Seperate Lauter tun?
The more info we have maybe the better we can help.
 
I've been reading articles and watching Youtube concerning batch sparging instead of fly. I've never done batch sparging before, but I'm gonna give it a try. If John Palmer endorses it, that's good enough for me. Fly sparging a 10-gallon batch is painfully slow.
 
Read http://hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/

Denny Conn is an award-winning brewer who uses a simple gravity-powered batch sparge system.
 
I watched his (Denny Conn's) Youtube session and he basically backed up John Palmer's explanation and endorsement. Interesting, though, is how some batch sparging techniques include another rest period when H2O is added back in to the mash when the initial runnings are complete. I'm looking at possibly investing in a pH meter to determine if an extra rest period is needed. Any thoughts?
 
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